Chapter 227 Initiating the Black Tiger Heart-Digging Plan

The plan is simple to say, but there are many details to be perfected in practice. After the victory in the Bay of Bengal, Chen Ce, commander of the Third Fleet, had this idea and had many private contacts with Chen Shaokuan. Shen Honglie, commander of the Fourth Fleet and commander of the Marine Corps, was also pulled by Chen Ce to work on such a plan.

This plan was built after the great victory in the Bay of Bengal, and the Japanese navy had to face a difficult problem, that is, it had to take the initiative to attack, otherwise the transportation line on the plane would be paralyzed. The shrewd Chen Ce quickly found the crux of the problem, and Shen Honglie hit it off, and the marines in his hand were still thinking about landing in Naha to get it.

This plan was reported to the Navy Command, and Chen Shaokuan first denied the content of Shen Honglie's desire to use the Marine Corps to land in Naha, what kind of joke, Naha is a key defense area of the Japanese Navy, and the total of only three divisions of the Marine Corps is a great one, and it is great to get together 50,000 people, and 50,000 people will go to Ryukyu Island immediately, what can they do?

Chen Shaokuan was very interested in the plan of using carrier-based aircraft and naval guns to raid the old nest, so he put forward it at this meeting, not on a whim, but as the result of many discussions with a group of old guys in Beijing before departure, and the result of repeated deductions by the staff officers.

With the change of this plan, the second fleet may become a supporting role, and whether the entire fleet will have an opinion or not, this matter must be settled first, and simply pressing people with orders is not the best way.

Tang Qianming touched his beard, and after pondering for a while, he said: "The plan is a good plan, the question is how to retreat the task force?" Really smashed Naha's lair, and the Japanese Navy still had to go crazy chasing the task force? ”

"It depends on the Second Fleet's table. Hold back the main forces of the combined fleet of the Japanese Navy, and at the same time try to avoid a decisive battle. When Naha succeeded, the second, third, and fourth fleets of our navy merged into one huge force. At that time, the Japanese navy, which had lost the naval port of Naha, would have to start from the Japanese mainland if it wanted to fight. Counting on the strategic flood battle of the Air Force, it is difficult to deal a fatal blow to the Naha Naval Port, but the naval guns are different. The task force had more than 200 caliber naval guns, more than 100 guns, and a burst of indiscriminate bombardment at the Naha Military Port. Chen Shaokuan said that he was happy. This plan is indeed very tempting. "The victory in the Bay of Bengal initially weakened the strength of the Japanese Navy, and the Naha sneak attack weakened the strength of the Japanese Navy again, and then the decisive battle will be held. Our odds of winning are at least 60%. ”

The last thing everyone felt very uncomfortable listening to, but what they said was definitely different from what they thought in their hearts. It seems that the Japanese navy is no longer as strong as China, but there are many factors for victory or defeat in the vast sea. Ships are nothing but one aspect. Soldier's su zhì. The command of the officer, and so on. If you want to talk about other factors, these people in the Chinese Navy really have no confidence in their hearts. After all, it is not the kind of navy that Japan has not suffered defeat since the First Sino-Japanese War, and it has always been the confidence of the world's naval power.

The final plan on how to fight is still up to the Navy Command to decide, and before that, it must be certain that the Second Fleet is willing to cooperate.

"Then do it, I'm okay with that!" Tang Qianming was the first to express his position. This opportunistic faction during the Xinhai period is well versed in maintaining the trust of the top in the army for a long time. What is certain. The president asked Chen Shaokuan to be the commander of the navy, and he must have had his considerations. Even if Tang Qianming is not convinced, he will not come out. If he loses the trust of the president, he will be discarded even if he is old. Just like Liu Guanxiong, the Fujian gang that engaged him within the navy is now shelved in the position of deputy chief adviser of the navy. Lian Sa Zhenbing was promoted to the chief adviser of the Navy, effectively emptying the military power.

After the rest of the people expressed their positions, Chen Shaokuan took out the battle plan jointly created by Chen Ce and Shen Honglie and put it in front of everyone. This plan has been done in detail, from the specific route to how to evade the Japanese reconnaissance and so on, quite a lot of preparations have been made. The specific plan is to use the night to depart from Keelung, and then go south, take the initiative to expose the Philippine route to be seen by the Japanese army, and make a posture of completely cutting off the Philippine route. When the Japanese discovered it, they suddenly fell silent on the radio, turned around and headed eastward, and when the Second Fleet and the Combined Fleet of the Japanese Navy were pinning each other down, they suddenly turned north and headed straight for Naha.

The biggest feature of the whole plan is to take advantage of the opportunity that the Japanese Navy is eager to retaliate against the Chinese Navy and the main force is pouring out. The key to the success or failure of the plan lies in how the Second Fleet can maneuver with the Japanese Combined Fleet within a limited area in the East China Sea and gain enough time to make a roundabout. The plan also made detailed arrangements for how to take remedial measures once the Japanese discovered the combat intentions of the task force and lost the opportunity, which was to directly enter the North Pacific and break diplomatic relations on a large scale. At that time, even if the combined fleet of the Japanese Navy wanted to catch the task force, it would be difficult to find traces of the task force in the vast ocean.

Generally speaking, the plan of the Navy Command is to be "stable" and to base itself on an invincible position, to fight if it can, and to use the method of breaking diplomatic relations at sea to drag down the strength of the Japanese Navy. After all, Japan cannot be compared with China, there is a problem with the sea route along the southeast coast, and the port of Yangon in Myanmar can be used. In fact, since the start of the Sino-Japanese war, there has not been a single Chinese ship in sight on the originally busy route to China through the Strait of Malacca. Freighters departing from the United States all go to Australia and then enter the Indian Ocean and arrive at the port of Yangon. Thanks to the British, Yangon Port has a good foundation, and after a period of expansion and repair, it has a capacity of 10 million tons per year. At present, the domestic construction company is further expanding, otherwise it is still very difficult to only have a throughput of 10 million tons.

The disruption of the South Seas route has had a significant impact on China, especially in the steel manufacturing industry, with Australia's iron ore not being able to enter China by sea and Yangon being left without a rail link to the country. China and the interim government of Myanmar are discussing the construction of a railway to connect the domestic railways of Myanmar. However, this is not an overnight matter, and the main focus is on the impact on Myanmar after the war, not on the present.

Gossip aside, after the plan was approved by the Second Fleet, Chen Shaokuan officially ordered the implementation of the "Black Tiger Heart" plan to realize the plan for Shun Lì. A command group led by Chen Shaokuan was formed, the commander-in-chief was naturally Chen Shaokuan, and the deputy commanders were Tang Qianming, Chen Ce, and Shen Honglie. The first step in the plan. It was the special replacement fleet commanded by Chen Ce that set off on the night of April 2, 41, and the second step was that the main force of the Navy's Second Fleet left Shanghai Port and assumed the posture of going south. The Japanese Navy wanted to ambush the main force of the Second Fleet, and the best ambush point was the coast of Zhejiang, which could avoid the attack from the shore-based planes of Shanghai and Hangzhou to the greatest extent and end the battle before the shore-based planes arrived.

After this inference, everything becomes clear. Chen Shaokuan decided that Vice Admiral She Zhenxing, deputy commander, would command the main force of the fleet to go south, induce the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet to attack, and after discovering the Japanese Combined Fleet. Entangled with it and kept a distance, made a gesture of retreat to Hangzhou Bay, and held back the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet. The point of this process is to be slow and slow to start. Slow action. Going south must be procrastinated.

It cannot but be said that the Chinese Navy command still ignored one issue, that is, the problem of the landing of Japanese troops on Taiwan. Taiwan has two garrison armies with a total of six infantry divisions, plus the local police, with a total strength of more than 100,000, and the navy has really not thought about this problem, and if Japan wants to land in Taiwan, its strength cannot be less than four divisions, with Japan's current strength. It is difficult to draw the strength of four divisions from the South Seas.

In the plan of the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet, only two divisions and regiments of Japanese troops plus about 6,000 marines from the two islands of Ishigaki and Miyako were to carry out the first wave of landing operations. Under the cover of the fleet, first seek to gain a foothold, and then carry out subsequent reinforcements. The Japanese Navy and Army, which had already gone crazy, did not think much about whether the two divisions could take Taiwan, but first considered the question of whether they could land. The Japanese are very careful in doing things, but now this plan is really a bit too big to be honest, and it is not something that the Japanese army can do. Whether it is from the country or from the South Seas, the distance cannot be closer than crossing the Taiwan Strait, which means that the Japanese army will definitely not get reinforcements faster than the Chinese garrison.

The problem is that the Chinese Navy considers different angles than the Japanese military, which also makes the war full of uncertainties.

The night in Keelung Port was not quiet, billowing black smoke was rolling up in the lights, and the huge fleet was sailing out of the harbor one by one, and Chen Shaokuan, who flew to Keelung in person, solemnly saluted Chen Ce and said: "Fu Shuai has a saying, don't win, but seek not defeat!" We are a big country, Japan is a small country, and the longer the war is fought, the more beneficial it will be to our army. ”

Chen Ce solemnly returned the salute and said: "Please tell the commander, keep the humble duty in mind, but seek to be undefeated." The entire fleet disappeared into the night, but Chen Shaokuan could not rest, and flew back to Shanghai overnight to take command of the overall situation. This is also relying on air supremacy, otherwise such a move is very dangerous.

On 3 April, when the sky was bright, the airfields in various coastal areas were busy, and 10 reconnaissance planes were scattered by one guy. It's a joke to expect submarines to track a fleet throughout the city, but fortunately, the Chinese Navy has many submarines, and it is possible to dispatch submarines on the predicted possible course, and it is always necessary to wait for the rabbit. Because of the dispatch of the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet, 20 submarines, which had been operating near the East China Sea, rushed to cruise around the various routes where the Japanese Navy might appear. That's not all, twenty destroyers were scattered, destroyers with a speed of up to 35 knots, with radar as eyes, it doesn't matter if you can't hit them, just run away.

Fang Jianxiong, who knew the key to this battle, could not sit still in Beijing, so he took a special plane south to Shanghai and rushed to the headquarters of the Second Fleet on Chongming Island. His appearance made the atmosphere of the entire Second Fleet solemn, only Tang Qianming knew best in his heart that Fang Jianxiong was worried that the Second Fleet would not listen to Chen Shaokuan's command, so he personally came to press Chen Shaokuan.

One by one, news came back from various reconnaissance points, and the combined fleet of the Japanese Navy, which was currently leaving Naha, appeared in the field of view of a submarine, specifically located on the route from Naha to Taiwan.

After discovering the traces of the Japanese Combined Fleet, everyone's hearts were relieved. War starts with intelligence collection, and only with intelligence can we make targeted arrangements.

Fang Jianxiong always sat in the hall of the headquarters, watching the staff officers busy, and he didn't need anyone to accompany him, just sat there. Seeing this, Tang Qianming was not a problem, so he came over to talk and said: "I am old, and I will have to retire in two years, and this battle will be tossed by their young people." ”

Fang Jianxiong heard this and said with a smile: "Zhuxin, this is a bad word, you have to help me watch the family background of the second fleet for a few years." ”

Tang Qianming was relieved when he heard this, and said with a smile: "Then be a good guard dog for Fushuai." ”

After the task force headed south, it rushed towards the Philippines with great fanfare. This can surprise the Japanese Navy. Yamamoto Isoroku, who personally commanded the Combined Fleet, was greatly surprised when he received the news, and rushed to the chart to look at it for a long time, not understanding the reason for this move. "What if you hit the port of Manila in the Philippines? I don't believe that the Chinese do not know that the combined fleet is killing Taiwan. ”

This thing can be regarded as confusing Yamamoto fifty-six. It is clear that the Combined Fleet is aimed at Taiwan, but the Third Fleet stationed in Taiwan is actually killing the Philippines, which is not in line with common sense. The question is, how to explain this?

The Black Island Turtle Man was also at a loss, and after thinking for a long time, he said: "Is this a deliberate move, the purpose is to cover the attack of China's Second Fleet." So what will be the target of the Chinese Second Fleet's sortie? It's obvious. It can only be the main force of the combined fleet. That is, the Chinese have the meaning of a decisive battle, and their aircraft carriers are larger. The aircraft is more advanced, and the Chinese must be full of confidence in this. However, out of prudence, the purpose of letting the Third Fleet go south to the Philippines is to involve the strength of our Combined Fleet. ”

This analysis seems to be solid. Yamamoto didn't expect the task force to dare to go to Naha. Nodding and said: "It seems that it can only be explained in this way, and inform the Philippine side to prepare for war." In this case, the landing force of the two divisions may be affected to a certain extent. ”

"As long as the Second Fleet of the Chinese Navy can come out for a decisive battle, it will be worth it." The Black Island Turtle People are quite dark, and they even plan to sacrifice the Army. Yamamoto still shook his head and said, "Let's give me a notice, let the two divisions postpone the loading." ”

After Yamamoto's cautious decision, the next day came an even more puzzling news. Overnight the Third Fleet disappeared, and the entire fleet was radio-silent. It's really hard to find a fleet in the middle of nowhere, unless you're lucky enough to run into it.

The so-called Taiwan strategy is based on two divisions of the army, and such a large fleet cannot be confronted by a few small ships, and the task force composed of the entire third and fourth fleets has the strength to fight even against the combined fleet of the Japanese army. Otherwise, the Combined Fleet should take the initiative to attack and assume the posture of attacking Taiwan, just to lure the Second Fleet to attack.

Just when Yamamoto Isoroku and his number one staff officer, Kuroshima Kameto, had a headache, new news came again, and the intelligence personnel in Shanghai discovered that the Second Fleet of the Chinese Navy had attacked, and four aircraft carriers, four battleships, and 36 large and small ships appeared on the surface of the East China Sea. The Japanese Navy's reconnaissance methods are not so abundant now, that is, some intelligence officers pretend to be local fishermen and pretend to fish on the beach.

This discovery lifted Yamamoto's spirits, and he finally came out, and according to the normal route, he would definitely sail along the offshore sea and get reinforcements from shore-based aircraft as much as possible. Yamamoto would do the same, after all, subconsciously Yamamoto felt that the strength of the Japanese Navy was still slightly superior.

"Great, it just so happens that the two divisions of the army have stopped loading, as long as they can defeat the main force of the Chinese Navy's Second Fleet, it will be worth it." The Black Island Turtle Man jumped up excitedly, as the maker of the plan, his mood was not difficult to understand.

At this time, Yamamoto hesitated, and now that the Japanese Combined Fleet was not far from Miyako Island, Yamamoto was not worried about being discovered by Chinese reconnaissance planes because there were shore-based aircraft on the island. The question is how to explain the whereabouts of the Chinese Navy's Third Fleet, which should normally go north and seek a decisive battle with the Combined Fleet after a round with the Second Fleet. Now that it's disappeared on the way south, what the hell is this for? In those days, there were no satellites shining in the sky, and if you wanted to find targets on the sea, you had to rely on radar and eyes. At this time, the Japanese Navy's shipborne radar Type 21 Type 13 had not yet entered service, but it was coming soon.

Although the actions of the Third Fleet (Japan's judgment) did not conform to common sense, Isoroku Yamamoto, who dared to take risks and was willing to take risks, decided to carry out the original battle plan, after all, for the Japanese Navy, a main fleet hidden in a military port and air supremacy was beyond the power of the Japanese Navy. Now that the fleet is finally willing to come out, the combined fleet must not miss this plan. As for the uncertainty caused by the fate of the Third Fleet, it depends on Amaterasu's meaning. The Japanese army on the islands of the South China Sea still had merchant ships and so on, so they begged for a lot of blessings.

Yamamoto actually made this decision very helplessly, the powerful Japanese Navy is now inferior to China in terms of ship strength, especially after the fact that the power of the aircraft carrier is the factor that determines the victory or defeat of the sea has been confirmed, Yamamoto has to marvel at the development of the Chinese Navy has a long-term vision, unlike some people in the Japanese Navy, who are still immersed in the guns of battleships.

The Second Fleet, which left Shanghai, was commanded by Deputy Commander She Zhenxing, and as the commander, there was a heavy pressure in addition to excitement. The radars of all the ships of the navy were turned on, and in particular, the destroyers equipped with radars took turns to attack the front stations, and four reconnaissance planes were also thrown out at a distance, with the aim of discovering the traces of the Japanese Combined Fleet in advance. (To be continued......)